


Peregrinate

by lulalotte



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Drabble, Ficlet, Gen, Time and wild are more similar than u think, Time used to have long hair and u cant change my mind, thx for coming to my ted talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:34:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29658336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lulalotte/pseuds/lulalotte
Summary: Wild chops his hair off Mulan-style.
Relationships: Time & Wild (Linked Universe)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 87





	Peregrinate

**Author's Note:**

> hey kids
> 
> so. i haven’t been doing great lately, and that’s why TCOYFM is gonna be a week late. I will have an update this upcoming Thursday!! thanks for being patient. 
> 
> anyway. i felt bad that I hadn’t written anything so I jotted this down in my global class this morning. i hope it will suffice!! ((p.s. i am very aware this isn’t how hair works thx))

Time expected to find Wild somewhere he didn’t really belong. In a tree, or a field, and while a rock along the edge of a nearby river wasn’t his first expectation, it isn’t too odd. He takes care to make a lot of noise approaching, though he supposes with him it wouldn’t matter. The Hero of the Wilds was hyper aware of everything, it seemed. 

Either way, Wild doesn’t look up when Time creaks himself down into a sitting position at the younger hero’s right. He doesn’t move. And when he breathes out a long sigh, Time realizes he had been remembering. 

The only sounds are the babbling of the water, the rustling sounds of the woods… the call of a crow that flies overhead. Wild inhales deeply, turning to look. The frantic cawing of the crow fades away, even as a thousand others join in with it. Perhaps it was a raven. An unkindness as opposed to a murder.

Time rubs a hand over Wild’s shoulder, and that must be enough to stir something up in him. Stormy blue eyes turn back to Time, blonde hair flutters loose, time slows. 

Wild changes. 

Blue morphs, colors blurring and armor falling. Cerulean mixes with slate blank white. Gold falls. Pink smooths. Transparent drips. 

Time had always been impressed by Wild’s coordination with his hands. How quickly he could chop vegetables for dinner, the accuracy with which his arrows fly. They are nimble, thin things, beautifully corporeal, and unlike Sky’s burly ones. Unlike Twilight’s large, calloused ones. Unlike Warriors’ stained ones.

Unlike his own, which he wishes were smaller and softer. More familiar. 

And when Wild’s skin looks like a glazed pastry and his face is open and free and his tunic is newer, Time reaches out and grazes a soft cheekbone. 

He wonders what Wild was like when he was young. Were his eyes bright and big? Was his hair short? Was he kind and free?

Was he quiet? Was he burdened and alone? Was he afraid?

Was he like Time?

Time remembers cutting his hair off. He remembers doing it on a whim, not preparing for it at all. Just sitting down and asking Malon to cut it. This is different. 

It is different when Wild uses his thin, soft hands to work his own honey strands into a long braid that falls down his back. It is different when Wild ties it off with a ribbon instead of his usual elastic. It is different when Wild pulls the glowing blue arrow back and holds it taught at his chin. 

It is different when Wild’s cut comes. Everything falls loose and into place quickly, with one clean swipe. Time’s had taken longer. It had been more domestic, done neatly and correctly. But it seems fitting that Wild chose the freest way to do this.

It is the same when Wild clutches the blonde locks in his hand, still neatly interwoven. 

It had been true, clean and quick. Wild holds the braid out at arms length and lets it fall off into the water without a second thought, leaving his face framed awkwardly by his now too-long sideburns. Just as quickly, he holds them together and slices them to just below his chin, and lets them fall, too. 

And then he laughs, and runs a hand through his hair, and Time joins him. Takes Wild into his arms and remembers the freedom he had felt with the weight on his head gone.

**Author's Note:**

> tysm for reading!! 💖 comments and kudos are appreciated. tumblr is @lulalottee! 
> 
> Lula


End file.
